Page 47

Beth

N ew Year’s passed in a similar fashion, and before I even realized, it was January and Joey was back at school. I missed having her around all the time; she was a good companion.

I was standing at the kitchen counter, shoveling my third bowl of cereal into my mouth.

Pregnancy made me hungry, and cereal was becoming a good friend of mine.

I had several boxes of the ultra-sugary stuff hidden deep in one of the cabinets so Joey wouldn’t see.

She tended to eat healthier cereals in the morning, and my peanut butter puffs were far from that.

I was still slowly trudging through my schoolwork.

After speaking to my advisors, I had agreed to cut back my workload slightly and take an extra semester to graduate.

As much as I didn’t like it, it was what was best for me and the nugget I was growing.

At the end of the day I would still have my degree.

My phone buzzed, and I winced, thinking Jensen could sense my bad eating habits and was calling, ever the doctor. Only, it was a number I didn’t recognize.

Usually, I ignored all calls unless it was from someone I knew. I didn’t have the energy to deal with too many humans.

Growing a baby was hard work. My back was sore; my tits were swollen…It wasn’t a fun time.

Despite my exhaustion, I picked up the phone. It might have been someone at the doctor’s office, or maybe one of the team members whose number I hadn’t saved.

“Hi…Is this Bethany?” the soft female voice asked.

Not recognizing the voice, I frowned. “It is. Who is this?” I asked cautiously.

“My name is Heather. I’ve been seeing your brother?”

My eyes widened slightly. Why was she calling me? Had my brother sent her as some sort of flying monkey?

“Hi,” I said.

“I’m so sorry to just call you out of the blue, but I’ve been feeling like something is off and wanted to talk to you.”

I braced myself, preparing for the lecture of how I was abandoning my family. “Yes?”

Heather sighed. “Honestly, I feel like your brother is feeding me lies about you, and I just want to know the truth. He always spoke about you in such a helpful, kind, family way. And then, all of a sudden, he’s talking about you abandoning them, and I just…

Something feels off. When I started to question it, he booked this extravagant vacation for us and then told me you were trying to stop it because you were jealous? ”

He had told her what? The asshole had spent ten grand of my money and had the audacity to blame me?

“Oh, wow, he is spewing such bullshit,” I muttered.

Heather was silent for a moment. “That’s what I was worried about. What happened?”

“Do you want the full truth, even if it’s ugly?”

“I was considering a long-term relationship with this alpha. I need to know.”

I snorted. “Look, I love my family, but if I were you, I would run for the hills. My brothers have never had to look after themselves. I had to do all their laundry, all their cleaning, all the cooking. They’ve never been able to keep a job for longer than six months.

They are grown man children who rely on the people around them to do things for them.

I informed my family weeks beforehand that I wouldn’t be home for Thanksgiving, and they did nothing, prepared no food, and then placed the blame on me. ”

“You’re kidding…” She sounded horrified.

“Sadly, I’m not. You know that vacation Hayden booked for you guys? Do you really think he had money for that lying around?”

“That’s what made it so weird. I didn’t think he did. He claimed he got a bonus from work, but, well, that rang a bit false.”

“He maxed out my credit card to fund it. I am happy to send you the statement as proof. He felt like, because I didn’t come home for Thanksgiving and prepare a gigantic meal to impress you, you deserved a vacation on my dime.”

“Oh my god.”

I probably should have left it at that, but the floodgates were open, and I had been wanting to rant about my family for a while.

“Have you ever seen him clean a dish? This may be partially my fault—when our mom died, a lot of the housework was put on me, and I just accepted it because I was a kid. Recently, I’ve started pushing back, prioritizing myself, creating my own family.

The reason my brothers are so mad at me is because I’m no longer at their beck and call.

I started setting boundaries, and they didn’t like that. ”

“What you’re saying sounds a lot more truthful than what they’ve been saying,” she admitted sadly.

“Look, you seem like a lovely girl, and my brothers have only spoken highly of you, which is why I’m going to say this.

Think about the life you want, the future you want.

My brother needs to grow up before he can be in a healthy, stable relationship.

I used to think that it was an omega’s job to do everything—all the cooking and cleaning—but then I found a pack who takes care of me.

If you bond with my brother now, you are condemning yourself to a life as a housekeeper.

I’m saying that as someone who loves my brother deeply.

He is flawed, as are all my family members, and they need a reality check. ”

“When we started dating, he was so sweet, taking me to restaurants and asking me about my day. But the more time we spent together, the more I started seeing the cracks. He always had an excuse for why things weren’t done, and I just accepted them.”

“When you love someone, sometimes that stuff is easy to overlook.”

Heather snorted. “Well, I’m not overlooking it anymore. I suppose I’ve got a lot to think about. Also, congratulations. I heard that you’re pregnant.”

“I’m sure my brother didn’t have very nice things to say about that.”

“No, and that’s part of the reason I started to think something was wrong with this situation. I really hope you’re living your best life out there.”

“I am,” I said honestly. “And I hope you take care of yourself. You don’t deserve to be dragged into my family’s mess.”

“I appreciate you telling me the truth. If you hadn’t, I may have ended up…Well, I don’t want to think about how I may have ended up. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome to call me anytime.”

“I will. Oh, and I assume your credit card is locked up tight now?”

“It is. I won’t make that mistake again.”

She hummed thoughtfully. “Considering your brother was adamant he paid for the vacation, I think if I cancel it and get a full refund issued, I’ll tell him he can use the money to take us on a vacation that is more my speed…

That is, if the money gets refunded to his account because he told me the truth.

The idiot never logs out of his accounts.

” She laughed. “I suppose, if the money gets returned to its rightful owner, then there’s nothing we can do. ”

I bit my lip. She was devious and amazing, and I was almost sad that she wasn’t going to be my sister-in-law.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“Hopefully this isn’t the last time I talk to you, but if it is, I really appreciate this.”

We said our goodbyes and hung up.

Putting my phone down, I padded down the hallway to Gideon’s office. He was sitting at his desk, rummaging through papers. At my appearance, he looked up and smiled at me. “Hey, are you hungry?”

I shook my head. “Not yet, but I just had a very interesting phone call I wanted to tell you about. I may have found an ally in Nebraska.”

Pushing his chair back, he opened his arms, gesturing for me to come join him.

I didn’t hesitate crawling into his lap.

When I had started showing, I had tried to avoid sitting in their laps, saying I didn’t want to squish them.

All three of my alphas had the same response—outrage.

Partially because I was insulting their strength, thinking they couldn’t hold their pregnant omega, and then they proceeded to put me in their laps at every single opportunity.

I had simply stopped fighting it. The cuddles were damn enjoyable.

“Tell me more,” Gideon rumbled as he stroked my back.

“Will we still be able to sue my brother for his fraudulent charges if the purchases are refunded?”

Gideon thought for a moment, cocking his head to the side. “We can, though I’m not sure it would be worth the stress it may cause you. Has he seen the light of day?”

I shook my head. “That will never happen. The omega he’s been dating was getting the sense that something wasn’t right, so she called me, and I explained the situation. Let’s just say, she wasn’t very happy with my brother and said she would make sure the vacation got refunded.”

Gideon chuckled. “Good. Though, I think we’d better prepare for the tantrum your brother is going to have when that happens.”

I shrugged. “You know what? I’m honestly not worried. I have three big, scary alphas who will protect me, and I live on the other side of the country.”

“What the hell happened to the Bethany from a year ago?” he asked.

“She fell in love.” Grinning, I kissed the underside of his chin playfully.

“I love you too,” he hummed, leaning over to kiss me.

“I was talking about Joey, but you’re not too bad.” I giggled as he squeezed me.

“Brat.”

“Old man.”

We were quiet for a moment before Gideon spoke. “Your anatomy scan is tomorrow, right? We find out the gender?”

I nodded. “It’s a bit later than normal, given the whole privacy situation, but better late than never.”

“Do you want me to drive you?”

“Actually”—I sat up straighter, looking him in the eye and holding on to his shoulders for balance—“I was thinking. Why don’t I take Joey?”

His brow furrowed in confusion.

“She’s slowly getting more involved in this pregnancy, and I want her to feel included, so I was thinking she can find out the gender with me and be the one to tell you.”

Gideon’s eyebrows rose, a look of impressed pride making me wiggle happily in his lap. “That’s an amazing idea. Are you sure you don’t mind driving?”

“I can handle a little driving, old man.”

“If we had time, I would show you just what this old man can do.”